Linguistic Theory and Second Language Classroom Research: The Effectiveness of Explicit Instruction

Abstract

The role of instruction in second language (L2) acquisition has been investigated extensively over the past years (Norris & Ortega, 2000; Spada & Tomita, 2010). Yet it is only recently that applying L2 research findings in the generative framework to the classroom context has become a topic of interest (Whong, Gil, & Marsden, 2013; Whong, Marsden, & Gil, 2013). Focusing on the change in a learner's grammatical knowledge, this article reviews empirical findings on the unaccusative vs. unergative distinction among intransitive verbs and adjective ordering in prenominal modification in English. It will be argued that explicit instruction can facilitate second language development in these areas where, for example, learners have difficulty detecting overpassivization errors with unaccusatives (e.g., the airplane was arrived at the airport) or identifying the correct adjective ordering (e.g., a small square house, and not a square small house).